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As a new year begins we all seem to be making resolutions, or making anti-resolutions for some! I am not making resolutions as much as I am making continuations. When I say continuations I think everyone gets it. We, as humans, are (hopefully) always in a state of change. It is at big life changes that we seem to make proclamations of change and of intentions, resolutions as they are known. I am faced with a new year and a year that is the last in my 40's! As of mid-November 2018 I will be fifty years old. More on that as it comes closer, I'll bet. Continuations - the most obvious is that I plan on making this blog look better. I have always intended on sitting down and working on the aesthetics, but then the words get in the way. Well, and life also gets in the way and I choose something else to work on during that time. Another continuation is to take care of myself. That seems easy enough, but we all know that is easier said than done. True self-care means saying no whe

Recently I have had a number of parents turn to me for advice on how to handle their middle/high schooler. I will admit that I was a bit shocked when the first asked me point blank how he could get rid of the yelling, disrespect, and arguing plaguing his house of  tweens. I was able to talk through coping strategies that I use when in the classroom, and even congratulated myself for pulling a few gems from my own home life. When the next set(s) of parents asked for advice I gave them my very best. I was able to speak to the behaviors I had seen in the classroom and offer them a different look at their child. A fresh set of eyes from someone who sees their child in a completely different context than any parent will ever be able to experience. I have a policy that if I am going to talk to you about a negative I am experiencing with your child, that I will follow it with at least two positives. I truly feel that if I am not able to name at least  two positive things about a studen